Hymn to Uṣas
Rigveda IV.52 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 4 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
Thou dost push back the darkness! O Uṣas! Each morning thou dost wage war against the night and thou art ever victorious. Thy light is a blade that cutteth through all shadow. The darkness retreateth before thee, screaming its defeat.
See how the world reneweth itself at thy coming! The trees lift their branches to receive thee. The flowers open their petals. The birds sing their songs of welcome. All of creation stirreth with joy at thy approach. Life itself springeth forth anew.
The herds go forth to pasture. The ploughman taketh up his plough. The merchant prepareth his goods. Women kindle the sacred fire. Men rise from their beds and stretch their limbs. The world is transformed in an instant from death to life.
Night was dark and terrible. We lay helpless in our beds, listening to every sound. We feared the demons that walk in darkness. We trembled at the unknown. But thou comest, O Uṣas, and all our fears vanish. The world is made new. All things are possible again.
O goddess of dawn! O mother of all mornings! Thou dost teach us that darkness is not eternal. Thou dost show us that night always giveth way to day. Grant us the strength to endure our own darkness, knowing that thou shalt surely come again. O Uṣas! Bless us with thy light. Renew us as thou renewest the world!
Colophon
This hymn is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation are to be documented during audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda IV.52
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
prati ṣyā sūnarī janī vyucchantī pari svasuḥ |
divo adarśi duhitā || 1 ||
aśveva citrāruṣī mātā gavām ṛtāvarī |
sakhābhūd aśvinor uṣāḥ || 2 ||
uta sakhāsy aśvinor uta mātā gavām asi |
utoṣo vasva īśiṣe || 3 ||
yāvayaddveṣasaṁ tvā cikitvit sūnṛtāvari |
prati stomair abhutsmahi || 4 ||
prati bhadrā adṛkṣata gavāṁ sargā na raśmayaḥ |
oṣā aprā uru jrayaḥ || 5 ||
āpapruṣī vibhāvari vy āvar jyotiṣā tamaḥ |
uṣo anu svadhām ava || 6 ||
ā dyāṁ tanoṣi raśmibhir āntarikṣam uru priyam |
uṣaḥ śukreṇa śociṣā || 7 ||
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Rigveda, Śākala recension. The standard scholarly edition is the Bombay Oriental (Vishva Bandhu, 5 vols., 1963–66). IAST transliteration available from GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) and Vedaweb (University of Cologne). Both sources are open access. IAST transliteration from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
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